Fantasy The Blade and the Fire (open to first reply)

[Kiwikat]

Zweilos paced around for many minutes thinking of how best to help this girl, an idea summoned itself and he lit up. "Aha! Atrope, I think I have it. In my old hut, there is a tome of unconventional magic classes and what you should know of them. If I recall correctly, poison is among those classes. He waved his hand emphatically and the once dense foliage that surrounded this clearing opened into a path. He began walking down it and turned to beckon to Atrope, "Come quickly, lest whoever you pulled an escape act for comes looking for you."

 

[Joyeful]

She chuckled. "Try the only church in the area. They're far too terrified to walk into the woods, believe me."
Atrope remembered that the people had been terrified to touch anything more than a leaf from this forest. "I don't know whether they're scared of you, or the other." With churches, it was a toss-up. So, she followed him, through the forest, glancing at her hands every now and then, trying hard to touch nothing but herself.

 

[Kiwikat]

Zweilos lead down the path and laughed nervously at the girl's comment. "Well, you see..." He began. "As much as they would be right to fear Noctra and her cohort, they seldom leave this forest." He gestured to the surrounding trees, "The people of that village over there knew only that the forest was rotten and dying, so they had no reason to go in the first place. That was until I showed up. " He brought his head up and looked at the treetops as he regaled his misadventure. " I mentioned before that I am not a witch by birth, it is by practice. I was actually a well-to-do member of the church. I never believed magic was inherently evil, and so I dabbled in it (in secret of course). Though I suppose the church has eyes everywhere, I was discovered and was told either to face banishment and excommunication or immediate execution for my sins (they granted me that grace because; 1. The claims were mere allegation despite being very true, and 2. I was a very active and quite influential member of the church despite my more liberal ideals towards magic.) Naturally I chose excommunication and I fled three regions over to this forest. More specifically, that village." He pointed back towards the smoke. "I thought to myself 'well if I am to be branded as a witch, I had best start acting like one.' Needless to say, I did my fair share of terrorizing, stealing..." He trailed off as he remembered the mayhem he caused. "Say do you remember a large thorny bramble bush engulfing the mayor's house? Ah, probably not they must've removed it by now. Yes, it was fun but it all felt wrong. I guess you never really can take the church out of the man. I told them never to follow me into the forest and I devoted myself to returning the forest to its former glory." He grimaced as the once lush green path turned more and more gray and decrepit. "I wish I could undo the damage I caused to them, I wish there was somebody who I could trust and turn to when things go horribly wrong." He got very quiet in somber silent repentance. He smiled and turned over his shoulder to look at Atrope. "Which is why I want to help you. I want to give you what I never could have. I'm sure you have a very similar past?"

 

[Joyeful]

She shrugged. "I stayed with my mother's family most of the time, but I was awful at the magic concerning the actual crop, and thus they taught me how to move the winds, first- easy to not screw up, right? They were wrong- I almost ended up tearing away half the farm. Next they had me deal with fire, which ended surprisingly well- I didn't burn down the barn, and I learned how to control wind better. Water was... water was my strength. So for a time, I irrigated crops and the like, being that kind farmer's daughter. There was n incident that introduced me to blood magic- I didn't realize what it was at the time, but I gave perhaps a bit too much medical help to a farmhand to have it excused. People began to talk of witches, and my mother finally told me about my father... it explained a lot, to put it shortly. I can get by and pass myself off as an elemental witch for a time, but it always tends to roll more towards violence. And I get weaker within a few days even conserving energy anyways, so it doesn't really matter whether I try to make a huge catastrophe or bring water to a drought area. My main strength has always been poison... more specifically, the poison of the belladonna plant, if you've heard of it."

 

[Kiwikat]

Zweilos had heard of this plant. He found a use for it in some of his more experimental potions. He knew all too well of its ghastly effects, but he swore there was good that could come from it. He must've seemed very lost in thought, he loosened his expression a bit. "I am familiar with it yes." He grew a very small bush of the berry and gestured to it. " a very effective neuro-toxin utilized by assassins and hit-men to make it seem as though the victim was slain by magic and not the hand of a killer." With a wave of his hand the plant shriveled. "Atrope, I know not your standing with the gods, but I feel as though they smile upon you to this moment. I happen to be in the process of finding a medicinal use for the toxin." He failed to add the part about his attempts being largely unsuccessful, but he knew this girl needed hope more than anything else. If she could not be hopeful that her powers will not lead her to destruction and evil, she will never overcome it. They had just gotten to his humble shack. He announced their arrival with an exaggerated flourish. The building was nothing to look at really. A modest pile of stone and wood, decorated ingloriously by vines with various flowers and thorns. There didn't seem to be any doors, windows, or extremities of the lodging. In fact, to the naked eye, it was difficult to even tell it was a house. Nonetheless, Zweilos walked over to a side of the mass and with a wave of his hand the vines parted to reveal a warmly lit cave with a bed, a few bookshelves, a fireplace, and a table with two chairs. He held the vines apart and motioned for Atrope to enter.
"After you, Atrope."